Spurs’ Parker won’t play for France this summer

The Spurs won’t have to worry about Tony Parker suffering an injury during this summer’s FIBA World Championships in Turkey.

Parker on Thursday notified the French national team, for which he has played each of the previous five summers, that he will sit out this summer’s competition.

Parker cited the need to get rest and rehabilitate injuries suffered during a tough Spurs campaign. He missed 26 regular season games with a variety of injuries, including an ankle sprain, plantar fasciitis and a broken right hand.

The three-time All-Star point guard suffered back, shoulder and elbow injuries in a fall in Game 3 of the Spurs’ Western Conference semifinals playoff series against the Suns that ended Sunday.

“I don’t want to play on the national team this year, and that’s because I played the last five summers,” he told The Express-News. “This year I felt it a lot. I was tired all the time. I’d wake up in the morning and I was tired. I had a lot of injuries, too, and it’s time I got a break.”

“I talked with Pop (coach Gregg Popovich) and he said it is always up to me, but they prefer I don’t play, and I agree completely.”